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Palestinian Rights Groups Snub ICC Prosecutor

Palestinians carry their belongings following Israeli strikes on residential buildings at the Qatari-funded Hamad City, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 2, 2023. (Reuters)
Palestinians carry their belongings following Israeli strikes on residential buildings at the Qatari-funded Hamad City, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 2, 2023. (Reuters)
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Palestinian Rights Groups Snub ICC Prosecutor

Palestinians carry their belongings following Israeli strikes on residential buildings at the Qatari-funded Hamad City, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 2, 2023. (Reuters)
Palestinians carry their belongings following Israeli strikes on residential buildings at the Qatari-funded Hamad City, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 2, 2023. (Reuters)

Palestinian human rights groups refused to meet the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan on Saturday, accusing him of favoring Israeli accusations of rights abuses over longstanding Palestinian charges.

Khan has been visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank following a request by a group representing families of victims of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen, but he was also due to meet Palestinian officials in Ramallah.

However Palestinian activists said they would refuse to see him because of their objections to what they saw as unequal treatment of Israeli and Palestinian cases.

"As Palestinian human rights organizations, we decided not to meet him," said Ammar Al-Dwaik, director general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR).

"I think the way this visit has been handled shows that Mr. Khan is not handling his work in an independent and professional manner," he said.

Accusations of war crimes and human rights abuses have been made on both sides since Oct. 7, when Hamas gunmen overran several Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,200 Israelis and seizing around 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

In response, Israel has launched weeks of air strikes against Gaza as well as an invasion by tanks and ground troops, killing more than 15,000 Gazans, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Khan was in Israel following an invitation from families of the Israeli hostages. He was scheduled to meet lawyers for the families' group as well as members of the families themselves.

On Saturday, he also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas had urged Karim to investigate Israeli operations in Gaza as well as the occupied West Bank.

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‘Deterring Aggression’ Operation Escalates Northern Syria Frontline

Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)
Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)
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‘Deterring Aggression’ Operation Escalates Northern Syria Frontline

Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)
Turkish military reinforcements in Aleppo and Idlib (Turkish Media)

At least 57 people, including 31 Syrian soldiers and 26 fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other groups, were killed in clashes after an attack by HTS and its allies on government positions in northern Syria.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths occurred during a military operation, called “Deterring Aggression,” launched by HTS and its allies early Tuesday.

The group said the goal was to “expand safe areas for the return of our people.”

Fighting factions quickly captured more than 17 villages and towns in western Aleppo countryside after intense clashes with government forces, leaving them just 10 kilometers from Aleppo city.

In response, the Syrian government sent reinforcements and launched hundreds of shell and rocket strikes on civilian and military sites in the area.

Syrian and Russian warplanes also carried out 22 airstrikes, some targeting HTS positions in Idlib.

HTS, along with smaller opposition groups, controls about half of Idlib and its surroundings.

This area is designated a de-escalation zone, where a ceasefire has been in place since March 2020 under an agreement between Moscow and Ankara.

However, the region regularly sees sporadic clashes and airstrikes from Damascus and Moscow.

In related news, Türkiye has sent a large military reinforcement to the Euphrates Shield area, controlled by its forces and allied Syrian National Army factions in Aleppo, as well as to its positions in Idlib.

This comes amid rising tensions with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the offensive by HTS on Syrian army positions in Aleppo.

A Turkish military convoy entered the Euphrates Shield area from the Bab al-Salama border crossing in northern Aleppo on Wednesday. The convoy included trucks carrying heavy weapons, tanks, and armored vehicles to a Turkish position near the town of Mariamin, north of Aleppo.

On Tuesday, Turkish reinforcements arrived at Mount Zawiya in southern Idlib, part of the Russian-Turkish de-escalation zone.

The convoy, which entered through the Kafr Lousin border crossing, included around 50 vehicles, mostly artillery and tanks. These forces were stationed at a base near the frontlines with Syrian army-controlled areas.

The reinforcements arrived amid rising tensions along the frontlines with the SDF in Aleppo, military escalation by HTS in the city, and increased Syrian army activity in Idlib.

In one development, the Manbij Military Council, part of the SDF, launched a raid on positions held by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army near the village of Umm Jlood in eastern Aleppo, part of the Euphrates Shield zone.

Clashes also took place near al-Hamran village in western Manbij, and the Syrian National Army shelled the villages of Umm Jlood and Arab Hassan.

Additionally, two fighters from the Turkish-backed Sham Legion were killed, and three others wounded in a raid by the SDF in the Kafr Khashir area north of Aleppo.

The northern Aleppo countryside saw exchanges of shelling between the SDF and Turkish forces on Monday near the Mareh axis and Tuesday near the Harbel axis, with shells landing near a Turkish base in Tel Malid village, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.